Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12,
Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Dear Joe,
You've had much through which to be patient and strong.
You're a rock when I need you.
You continue to teach me the richness of God's Grace to us through Jesus.
You remind me of God's Holy Law and of His Gospel promises.

I thank God for you this day and always. May God grant us many more years together. May we serve each other as suitable helpers. May we love each other, always submitting to each other in love, as Christ loves His Church.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

I'm going to link here to Joe's blog, too, since he posted a nice selection of photos from our wedding day.

Oh, and thanks, too, Joe, for helping me get this cool cursive font available on my font.

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Our house is getting a face-lift. Mostly our room arrangement is being redone. And with that, comes new paint and hopefully clean carpets for those areas. Ideally we'll also end up with a better organized home and an easier time keeping it up, which will further (again, ideally) lead to more contented children.

I didn't take any before photos. It's just way ... too .... well, choose your ending.❑ frightening❑ embarrassing❑ shameful❑ other (please specify) ___________________________________

But let your imagination run wild. We're coming off 17 years of the constant pregnancy and lactation cycle. Ten years of homeschooling full time. During those times we had several infusions of additional household goods and miscellany, due to cleaning out the homes of several family members.

All of the above description was followed by over two years of a somewhat severe depressive episode during which theMom did little but sit. Or sleep. Or play spider solitaire.

Intermixed and intermingled with all of that is a family of ten children. Ten busy and creative and perhaps destructive children. (And how is it that creative and destructive so often go hand in hand?)

Picture months of grit and grime. Months of disorder and chaos. When I moved the beds, there was a twelve inch "decorative" border of dirty footprints, handprints, and saliva dripmarks. When the Mr. Clean Magic Sponge doesn't touch the grime, ... well, ... that's just plain gross.

Other areas had fancy detailing of fingernail paint, crayon, pencil, super glued paper projects, and mounting tape, among other things. There were a few areas of handy tack and/or booger sculptures and in still other areas, images carved into various surfaces in relief.

Did I say chaos? Empty bins. Bins filled with the wrong things. Some bins and boxes filled with everything and anything. Colorful origami projects. And colorful origami scraps. School papers carefully saved from last year and now scattered about, as I predicted they would be.

Beads from making and taking apart jewelry. Beads from disemboweling beanie babies.

OK, I'm done now. I'm sure there was more, but I got most of it off my chest.

We have three two bedrooms that are to change occupants, and a bedroom to turn into a family room. And a family room to change into a bedroom. And much other cleaning and sorting and organizing. And of course, normal life and meals and laundry and etc.

Here's stage one.

The little three littlest girls are currently sleeping on a mattress on
the floor of Elsie's room. Their dressers line our hallways until we
get the room currently serving as Sophie and Clara's bedroom ready for
them. Their former room has been mostly cleaned up to make our new family room.

I still have to wash the window, find some sort of curtains at the local second hand stores, create some arm covers for the well-used couch out of the curtains I took off the windows, sand some ... some, ... something from the back of the door, paint the closet, reinstall closet doors, and finish organizing storage space.

But!

I think it looks wonderful already. I'm so very excited. No more TV in the living room. No more sweaty bodies on my nicer furniture and no more dirty feet on my new living room carpeting. Newly painted walls. All those things I have yet to do, ... they can wait until deep winter.

One room prettied up. Aaaaaaahhhhhhh. That's a sigh of contentment.

Next it's on to moving Elsie's things into Louisa's room and making that room into Sophie and Stella's.

~ ~ ~ ~
This little addendum is just my geekiness feeling pleased with how nice these toy bins look up high. Not just that they are out of reach, although that's a bonus. But I like that they're all lined up so nicely. I like the names on the boxes. A little snippet of life. A little morsel of what boys and girls in the two thousand teens play with: Little People, Cars, Princesses and Ponies, Beanie Babies, Barbies, Dress-up.

Friday, September 12, 2014

I was looking for an particular article that I remember seeing at one time, and instead came upon this. I added the emphasis to help summarize the content. As is typical, Luther does not mince words.

Martin Luther
to All Faithful and Godly Pastors and Preachers:

Grace, Mercy, and Peace in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The deplorable, miserable
condition which I discovered lately when I, too, was a visitor,
has forced and urged me to prepare [publish] this Catechism,
or Christian doctrine, in this small, plain, simple form. Mercy!
Good God! what manifold misery I beheld! The common people,
especially in the villages, have no knowledge whatever of Christian
doctrine, and, alas! many pastors are altogether incapable and
incompetent to teach [so much so, that one is ashamed to speak
of it]. Nevertheless, all maintain that they are Christians,
have been baptized and receive the [common] holy Sacraments.
Yet they [do not understand and] cannot [even]
recite either the Lord's Prayer, or the Creed, or the Ten Commandments;
they live like dumb brutes and irrational hogs; and yet, now
that the Gospel has come, they have nicely learned to abuse
all liberty like experts.

O ye bishops! [to
whom this charge has been committed by God,] what will ye ever
answer to Christ for having so shamefully neglected the people
and never for a moment discharged your office? [You are the
persons to whom alone this ruin of the Christian religion is
due. You have permitted men to err so shamefully; yours is the
guilt; for you have ever done anything rather than what your
office required you to do.] May all misfortune flee you! [I
do not wish at this place to invoke evil on your heads.] You
command the Sacrament in one form [but is not this the highest
ungodliness coupled with the greatest impudence that you are
insisting on the administration of the Sacrament in one form
only, and on your traditions] and insist on your human laws,
and yet at the same time you do not care in the least [while
you are utterly without scruple and concern] whether the people
know the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, or
any part of the Word of God. Woe, woe, unto you forever!

Therefore I entreat [and adjure] you all for God's sake, my dear sirs and brethren, who are pastors or preachers, to devote yourselves heartily to your office, to have pity on the people who are entrusted to you, and to help us inculcate the Catechism upon the people, and especially upon the young. And let those of you who cannot do better [If any of you are so unskilled that you have absolutely no knowledge of these matters, let them not be ashamed to] take these tables and forms and impress them, word for word, on the people, as follows:--
In the first place, let the preacher above all be careful to avoid many kinds of or various texts and forms of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Sacraments, etc., but choose one form to which he adheres, and which he inculcates all the time, year after year. For [I give this advice, however, because I know that] young and simple people must be taught by uniform, settled texts and forms, otherwise they easily become confused when the teacher to-day teaches them thus, and in a year some other way, as if he wished to make improvements, and thus all effort and labor [which has been expended in teaching] is lost.

Also our blessed
fathers understood this well; for they all used the same form
of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments. Therefore
we, too, should [imitate their diligence and be at pains to]
teach the young and simple people these parts in such a way
as not to change a syllable, or set them forth and repeat them
one year differently than in another [no matter how often we
teach the Catechism].

Hence, choose whatever form you please, and adhere to it forever. But when you preach in the presence of learned and intelligent men, you may exhibit your skill, and may present these parts in as varied and intricate ways and give them as masterly turns as you are able. But with the young people stick to one fixed, permanent form and manner, and teach them, first of all, these parts, namely, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, etc., according to the text, word for word, so that they, too, can repeat it in the same manner after you and commit it to memory.But those who are
unwilling to learn it should be told that they deny Christ and
are no Christians, neither should they be admitted to the Sacrament,
accepted as sponsors at baptism, nor exercise any part of Christian
liberty, but should simply be turned back to the Pope and his
officials, yea, to the devil himself. Moreover, their parents
and employers should refuse them food and drink, and [they would
also do well if they were to] notify them that the prince will
drive such rude people from the country, etc.

For although we cannot
and should not force any one to believe, yet we should insist
and urge the people that they know what is right and wrong with
those among whom they dwell and wish to make their living. For
whoever desires to reside in a town must know and observe the
town laws, the protection of which he wishes to enjoy, no matter
whether he is a believer or at heart and in private a rogue
or knave.

In the second place,
after they have well learned the text, then teach them the sense
also, so that they know what it means, and again choose the
form of these tables, or some other brief uniform method, whichever
you like, and adhere to it, and do not change a single syllable,
as was just said regarding the text; and take your time to it.
For it is not necessary that you take up all the parts at once,
but one after the other. After they understand the First Commandment
well, then take up the Second, and so on, otherwise they will
be overwhelmed, so as not to be able to retain any well.

In the third place,
after you have thus taught them this Short Catechism, then take
up the Large Catechism, and give them also a richer and fuller
knowledge. Here explain at large every commandment, [article,]
petition, and part with its various works, uses, benefits, dangers,
and injuries, as you find these abundantly stated in many books
written about these matters. And particularly, urge that commandment
or part most which suffers the greatest neglect among your people.
For instance, the Seventh Commandment, concerning stealing,
must be strenuously urged among mechanics and merchants, and
even farmers and servants, for among these people many kinds
of dishonesty and thieving prevail. So, too, you must urge well
the Fourth Commandment among the children and the common people,
that they may be quiet and faithful, obedient and peaceable,
and you must always adduce many examples from the Scriptures
to show how God has punished or blessed such persons.

Especially should
you here urge magistrates and parents to rule well and to send
their children to school, showing them why it is their duty
to do this, and what a damnable sin they are committing if they
do not do it. For by such neglect they overthrow and destroy
both the kingdom of God and that of the world, acting as the
worst enemies both of God and of men. And make it very plain
to them what an awful harm they are doing if they will not help
to train children to be pastors, preachers, clerks [also for
other offices, with which we cannot dispense in this life],
etc., and that God will punish them terribly for it. For such
preaching is needed. [Verily, I do not know of any other topic
that deserves to be treated as much as this.] Parents and magistrates
are now sinning unspeakably in this respect. The devil, too,
aims at something cruel because of these things [that he may
hurl Germany into the greatest distress].

Lastly, since the
tyranny of the Pope has been abolished, people are no longer
willing to go to the Sacrament and despise it [as something
useless and unnecessary]. Here again urging is necessary, however,
with this understanding: We are to force no one to believe,
or to receive the Sacrament, nor fix any law, nor time, nor
place for it, but are to preach in such a manner that of their
own accord, without our law, they will urge themselves and,
as it were, compel us pastors to administer the Sacrament. This
is done by telling them: Whoever does not seek or desire the
Sacrament at least some four times a year, it is to be feared
that he despises the Sacrament and is no Christian, just as
he is no Christian who does not believe or hear the Gospel;
for Christ did not say, This omit, or, This despise, but, This
do ye, as oft as ye drink it, etc. Verily, He
wants it done, and not entirely neglected and despised. This
do ye, He says.

Now, whoever does
not highly value the Sacrament thereby shows that he has no
sin, no flesh, no devil, no world, no death, no danger, no hell;
that is, he does not believe any such things, although he is
in them over head and ears and is doubly the devil's own. On
the other hand, he needs no grace, life, Paradise, heaven, Christ,
God, nor anything good. For if he believed that he had so much
that is evil, and needed so much that is good, he would not
thus neglect the Sacrament, by which such evil is remedied and
so much good is bestowed. Neither will it be necessary to force
him to the Sacrament by any law, but he will come running and
racing of his own accord, will force himself and urge you that
you must give him the Sacrament.

Hence, you must not
make any law in this matter, as the Pope does. Only set forth
clearly the benefit and harm, the need and use, the danger and
the blessing, connected with this Sacrament, and the people
will come of themselves without your compulsion. But if they
do not come, let them go and tell them that such belong to the
devil as do not regard nor feel their great need and the gracious
help of God. But if you do not urge this, or make a law or a
bane of it, it is your fault if they despise the Sacrament.
How could they be otherwise than slothful if you sleep and are
silent? Therefore look to it, ye pastors and preachers. Our
office is now become a different thing from what it was under
the Pope; it is now become serious and salutary. Accordingly,
it now involves much more trouble and labor, danger and trials,
and, in addition thereto, little reward and gratitude in the
world. But Christ Himself will be our reward if we labor faithfully.
To this end may the Father of all grace help us, to whom be
praise and thanks forever through Christ, our Lord! Amen.